Woman with service dog says she can't get a job

'Hire me, hire my dog' a problem for many potential employers, she says.

'Hire me, hire my dog' a problem for many potential employers, she says.

June 03, 2007|NANCY J. SULOK Tribune Columnist

Alex Dumas wants a job, but her dog is holding her back. At least, that is what she believes. Dumas was injured in a fall eight years ago at a Fort Wayne restaurant, where she was working at the time. The injuries triggered a whole series of physical problems that almost killed her. She spent the first few weeks of 2006 in a hospice, preparing to die. But she didn't die. She recovered. She was as skinny as a straw and sleeping a lot when she started on the road to recovery. Although still dealing with her infirmities, she has gained enough weight to look healthy and enough strength to run in competitive races. Dumas credits a lot of her recovery to Hope, the yellow Labrador retriever that became her service dog in August. The 2 1/2-year-old, 70-pound dog goes everywhere with her. They are as inseparable as peanut butter on bread. Hope is trained to help with issues of sight, sound and mobility. She can wake Dumas when the alarm clock sounds; she can pick things up; and she can help with balance problems. Her presence apparently is a problem for some potential employers. "Not all of them reject me because of Hope,'' she said, but the ones who do really bother her. Dumas, 38, of South Bend, said she has applied for several jobs and has been called for interviews at least 10 times. But when she shows up with Hope, everything changes. Partly because of her experiences over the past few years, and the knowledge she has gained about medical issues, she would like to work in a doctor's office or in the health field. She doesn't always mention the dog when she applies for jobs, Dumas said, and her résumé apparently looks good enough to get through the front door of prospective employers. But that's as far as she gets. She said a chiropractor stood with his arms akimbo as he told her to leave her pet in the car during her interview. She left instead, after futilely trying to explain that the dog is not a pet, but a service animal. A woman at an assisted living facility told her, Dumas said, that she didn't know her company's policy on service dogs. How could she run an assisted living facility, Dumas wondered, and not know the laws? The woman didn't return repeated phone calls seeking comment. "I'm not mad,'' Dumas said. "I'm frustrated by other people's ignorance.'' If the dog is the deciding factor, those prospective employers may be breaking the law. Kent Hull, an attorney for Indiana Legal Services, said the Americans with Disabilities Act says an employee or potential employee is entitled to reasonable accommodations, which could include allowing a service dog. Hull is not Dumas' attorney, but he said she could file a claim for employment discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission within 180 days of the alleged offense. The EEOC likely would refer it back to the local Human Rights Commission to investigate, Hull said. If the agency does not act within 60 days, he continued, Dumas could ask for a right-to-sue letter that would allow her to leap-frog over the administrative process and go to court. Dumas said she isn't interested in filing a lawsuit, because she doesn't think that would help and might instead upset the companies she wants to work for. Also, she said a lawsuit would imply that she is angry. She's not angry; she just wants employers to understand that what they are doing is wrong. "I don't want a handout,'' Dumas said. "I just want a job, one where I make a living on my own.'' Nancy J. Sulok's columns appear on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays. You can reach her at nsulok@sbtinfo.com, or by writing c/o South Bend Tribune, 225 W. Colfax Ave., South Bend, IN 46626, telephone (574) 235-6234.